


Sick

by PaisleyTrash



Category: My Time At Portia (Video Game)
Genre: Cuddling and Snuggling, Dorks in Love, Fluff, Four Way Relationship, Gross, Multi, Pneumonia, Polyamory, Sick Arlo, Sick Character, Sickness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-17
Updated: 2020-12-17
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:49:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28122648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PaisleyTrash/pseuds/PaisleyTrash
Summary: Arlo has gotten sick. The others help him get better.
Relationships: Arlo/Builder (My Time At Portia), Arlo/Female Builder/Remington/Sam (My Time At Portia), Arlo/Remington (My Time At Portia), Arlo/Sam (My Time At Portia)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 13





	Sick

Arlo seemed off; that much was apparent. Sam, Remy, and Carter all noticed it. He was slower, almost sluggish, but refused to take a break and rest. The dead of winter finally settled into Portia, which meant modified duty for Remington. As captain Arlo felt the need to take on Remington's patrols, which caused him to be out in the most fierce snowstorms.

It started with sneezing and congestion, then he started getting spacy. It was almost as if Arlo was on a delayed reaction time. The seriousness of his condition became apparent one early morning. Sam woke first for her morning patrol to notice that Arlo wasn't between her and Carter. 

That wasn't normal. 

A rattling cough rang through the house, loud enough to rouse Remington and Carter. A loud crash followed by thumping down the stairs sent them flying out of bed and down the hall. Sam reached the redhead, who was in a heap at the foot of the stairs. Carter ran down the stairs with Remy hobbling right behind her. Sam had already flipped Arlo onto his back, looking over him, concerned. 

Arlo was still clad in a pair of lounge pants and shirtless. A large red splotch where his torso first made contact with the hardwood stairs was starting to bloom a sicking mix of blue and purple. His breathing sounded like a wheezing rattle in his chest, and he was physically hot to the touch. Arlo exploded into a violent coughing fit, the muscles in his torso seizing, and he hacked up a pile of sickly green goo. 

Remington ignored his own pain to gather Arlo, limp and pale, into his arms. His own voice was shaking slightly. "Sam, go get Xu. This is bad."

Sam dashed back upstairs while Carter and Remy shuffled into the downstairs guest room. Carter pulled the blankets back as Rem deposited Arlo onto the center of the bed. Carter tucked Arlo in as Remington hobbled to the other side of the bed, sitting to prop his bad knee up. Carter made her way into the kitchen, hearing the stable door slam. No doubt Sam just took off on Teddy.

Xu would be there soon.

Carter filled a bowl with cool water and grabbed several rags along with a bottle of liniment for Remington's knee. She walked into the room and set the bowl down on the table. Remington had propped his knee up on a spare pillow, his hand tucked into Arlo's.

Arlo was still lying weakly on his back, breathing shallowly. Carter handed the liniment to Rem and began to dab Arlo's forehead and chest with the cool water. The front door to the corps slammed open, hurried footsteps ended upon entering the guest room. Xu hurried into the room and began to examine Arlo. 

A fever of 104 degrees, severe pneumonia. Weeks of recovery.

Out of Xu's bag came a strange looking machine. A tube went from the device, which connected to a mask. Xu placed the mask over Arlo's mouth and nose. Remington had to pull Arlo's hand away as he weakly resisted having the plastic contraption put on his face.

Xu screwed on a vial filled with clear liquid before pressing a button on the machine. It purred to life, still much louder than the three Corps members were expecting it to. Arlo weakly pawed at the mask on his face before relaxing.

Carter, Remington, and Sam all watched wide-eyed as Arlo's breaths seemed to deepen a bit. He coughed slightly but relaxed and allowed the vapor to fill his lungs. 

Carter turned to Xu as he was placing a box of vials on the table. "What is that stuff?"

"It's based on an old-world medication. It was used to treat asthma and pneumonia." 

Xu placed another vial, some needles, and a bag of blue-green herbs on the bedside table. He drew up a shot of the other vial before disinfecting a spot on Arlo's stomach and injecting the substance. Xu capped the needle and placed it into a red container in his bag. 

He turned to Carter. "Give him another injection in 12 hours, then another 24 hours after that. There are enough vials in the box there for a nebulizer treatment every 6 hours. That should last you a week. I'll bring you more when you run out. Boil the herbs in water with a little sugar or honey and give him a cup every day. He is off duty until his lungs are completely clear, and with how bad he currently is, I wouldn't be surprised if he's out for the rest of the season."

The three corps members nodded before Xu spoke up again. "All of you are getting a shot today just to ensure that you guys don't get it. If he gets worse or you guys start to develop symptoms like his, call me back, and I'll give you something else."

Xu gave each of them an injection and suggested they wear face masks while out in public or on patrol. Sam wrapped her scarf around her face as she left to bring Xu back and start her patrol, now an hour late. 

While Xu was there, he fitted Remington with a knee brace. Infinitely helpful, considering they couldn't afford to be two men down for an entire season. But for today, the town would survive with just Sam patrolling. 

Once the nebulizer treatment finished for Arlo, Carter gently lifted the mask off his face. Arlo cracked an eye open and managed a weak smile. Carter kissed his forehead and placed her hand on his cheek. "How are we feeling?"

Arlo's voice came out soft and gravely. "Like I can breathe again."

"Your off duty. Xu's orders and my orders."

Arlo chuckled weakly. "Yes, captain."

"Hungry?"

"Not really."

"I'm going to make some soup. I'll bring you a glass of orange juice."

Carter looked to Remington. "Need anything?"

"My basket from upstairs? And we should probably get some more blankets."

"Alright. I'll light the heat stove in here when I get back." 

Arlo gave a shaking thumbs up when Carter mentioned the heat stove. 

A few moments later, Carter brought in the promised items. In the basket were a few books and papers along with Remington's reading glasses. Carter brought one of Remington's well-worn sweaters down in addition to the blankets. She helped Arlo put it on and, with Remington's help, bundled Arlo in a blanket burrito. Carter lit the heat stove in the room before shuffling off to get dressed.

Remington stayed in the room while Carter took to doing the household chores. Sam fed the horses before she and Xu left, so there was no reason for Carter to leave the house. 

Carter set about chopping chicken and vegetables, adding them to a pot of simmering broth. She left the pot on the back burner and set about making coffee in the old percolator. As the coffee boiled, she cut several oranges into her old blender, adding a few strawberries for good measure and some water. She let it run for a while, preparing two mugs of coffee for her and Remington. She then strained the pinkish juice into a large jar before pouring a glass for Arlo.

Carter walked into the room where Arlo and Reminnorm where to find Arlo asleep in the cocoon of blankets. Remington was carefully working through some papers with one hand. The other was buried along with half his arm in the blanket wrap, clung tightly by Arlo. 

Carter handed Rem the warm cup and placed hers on the bedside table. Carter went back into the kitchen and stirred some leftover rice into the hot soup before serving it in bowls, which she carefully carried into the guest room. 

Carter placed the tray with the bowls on the table next to Remington. She carefully lifted Arlo's torso enough that she could slide behind him. Carter placed a pillow on her lap and laid Arlo's head onto it. 

Arlo blinked blearily, his hazy vision coming into focus. He was slightly propped up, the tightness in his chest was lessened.

It no longer hurts to breathe. 

He was no longer cold. The weight of several blankets wrapped around him grounded his foggy mind. He was holding onto something. It took a few moments to register that it was Remington's arm. 

It also took a few moments to register what was propping him up or propping him up. He claimed his neck up, and his eyes met Carter's. 

She played with this hair, softly conversing with Remington over an old-world movie on the television. Arlo released Remington's arm to pull his arms out of the cacoon. Carter smiled and brought a hand to his cheek. 

"Hey, Red. Sleep well?"

"Mmmm."

Arlo broke into a violent coughing fit. Carter quickly grabbed a handkerchief out of the bedside table, holding it in front of Arlo's mouth. 

He jacked up another pile of green goo. Carter folded the hankie up and tossed it away. She cleaned her hands with one of the alcohol wipes. 

Carter coaxed the glass of juice along with half a bowl of soup into Arlo. Sam returned from patrol around 3 pm and squeezed into the small bed between Remington and Carter. 

The four of them spent the night downstairs.


End file.
